New York Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said he would go with a no-huddle offense for their road game against the Cincinnati Bengals after seeing the offense struggle mightily against the Pittsburgh Steelers. They also actually struggled against the Dallas Cowboys the week before as well, so a change was definitely needed.

The Giants went with a no-huddle in the first series of the game against the Bengals, which resulted in a three-and-out. The Bengals already had a seven point lead at that point, courtesy of awful secondary play. The Bengals would get an excellent punt return from CB Adam “Pacman” Jones, which gave the Bengals excellent field position and resulted in another touchdown.

Down 14-0, why didn’t Gilbride stick with the no-huddle offense? The Giants slowed the tempo down, and as a result didn’t get anything going offensively in this game as well. The Giants completely abandoned the no-huddle offense, and the Bengals well-rested defense were able to feast on QB Eli Manning.

The problem for the Giants offense doesn’t have much to do with Manning as it does their predictable offense. For instance, on third downs, defenses know Manning would like to find WR Victor Cruz in the middle of the field. Now that option is being shut down, Manning is going through other options but none of the other receivers are getting open fast enough.

A no-huddle offense would make the Giants more unpredictable, making things easier for the receivers and the anemic run game. Manning is certainly brilliant enough to execute a consistent no-huddle offense. We see how Manning thrives in the fourth quarter using that no-huddle offense. The Giants offense would be far better doing so starting this Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.